The stone of amare et filios
by scarletkiss18
Summary: When the golden trio go back to finish their 7th year at Hogwarts they hope they will finally have a normal year. But when an ancient magic stone activates it will change all of their lives. (my take on forced marriage) Not epilogue compliant.


**Disclaimer: I am not JKR, I do not own Harry Potter and I certainly am not making any money from this story.**

 **Prologue**

Harry James Potter stood in front of the altar, watching the door waiting for his bride to enter. Of course it wasn't exactly the wedding he'd imagined or even wanted, but all in all things could have been a lot worse. Since the day he'd turned eleven and realized who he really was, who his parents had been, how much they had loved each other and him, he'd wished for the day he would have a family of his own. Of course he'd had his surrogate families; the Weasleys and Sirius, even Lupin to a lesser extent, but that wasn't really the same was it? So instead he had been satisfied to wait for the day where he would marry someone he loved deeply, someone who would have his children, and then he would have the family he so desperately wanted. He'd even secretly wanted a big wedding; normally he hated the attention but he'd thought for something as special as his wedding it would be worth it.

Harry was not getting any of those things. He was not in love with his bride. He loved her of course, and he hoped in time they would fall in love, but at present that simply wasn't the case. The shotgun wedding wasn't anywhere near grandiose. He was lucky though, he was at least marrying someone he cared about, someone he knew well. That couldn't be said for many of the other witches and wizards throughout Britain that week. Ron stood at his side as a witness at least, and he'd do the same tomorrow for Ron. He'd promised his bride they'd have a proper wedding when they had more time.

He heard voices in low tones outside the door and knew it would only be another a minute or two. At that moment he wondered once again why it was that he couldn't even seem to have one normal moment. Of course, at least this time everyone in Britain had been affected, he wasn't alone in his abnormality.

 **One and half weeks earlier**

Harry was sitting in the great hall having lunch with Ron and Neville across from him. There had been an announcement during their morning classes that all students had to be in the great hall for lunch as an important and serious announcement was going to be made. Hermione hadn't turned up yet; she had been muttering earlier about how NEWTS were really just around the corner so she was probably in the library looking up something obscure. Harry didn't like the sound of an "important and serious" announcement; those never turned out well. Besides any kind of grand announcement gave him flashbacks to the triwizard tournament.

The war had been won and the Golden Trio (as the prophet liked to call them) was back for their final year at Hogwarts. In truth Hermione had nagged both Harry and Ron into finishing their education. Harry was fairly happy with the result. After months in a tent and having the weight of the prophecy and the horcrux hunt on his shoulders it was nice to be a child again. It felt almost surreal to him; being nagged by Hermione to do homework, wearing his uniform and discussing Quidditch strategy for their next game with Ron. He didn't have to worry about being attacked at any minute, or if he would hear about the death of another loved one, or even where his next meal would come from. He didn't have to worry about press here either. They had hounded him all summer for interviews, trying to catch pictures of him whenever he went out; at least they were kept out of Hogwarts.

Most of their year was back repeating 7th year, the last year of school had been nullified—it turned out the ministry felt teaching the dark arts and crucio-ing students was not in fact an appropriate learning environment. The results of the war could be still be felt naturally; there were missing classmates who had died in the war or whose parents had fled the country, and the parts of the castle that were still under repair. Harry had to admit to himself it was odd to see Headmistress McGonagall in Dumbledore's old spot in the great hall. He carried the guilt from the war in all aspects of his life, the deaths he hadn't been in time to stop—every time he saw Teddy it broke his heart. Still, in spite of all of that, Harry felt at peace, he was home.

Harry was especially happy that things were back to normal between his two best friends. He'd thought when Hermione and Ron had kissed right before the battle they would end up together. They had given it a try over the summer they'd both ultimately decided they weren't really meant for each other. Although Harry knew he shouldn't be happy his two friends had broken up, he sort of was. It was a selfish thing to be happy about, and he would never admit it, but it had always been the three of them and he'd worried he'd be the odd one out. With all the changes occurring in their world and in his life, Harry had to admit it was nice to be able to rely on his two best friends; the three of them together just like it had been in spite of everything.

They had been back at school for a few months and things had settled pretty much into the routine he was used to from his previous years at school. The only slightly black spot on his happiness was Ginny. She was rather angry with him when he told her he didn't want to get back together. After the war he just didn't feel the same way. Ultimately he realized the Ginny had never really stopped being the fan girl she was as a child. Over the summer she had tried to make him take her to the events held by the ministry to celebrate the end of the war, to give the speeches they wanted. It seemed she was more interested in being the girlfriend of the boy-who-lived then being with him. So he told her that he didn't think they should get back together and she threw several very public hissy fits, which solidified what he'd thought in the first place.

He'd taken to avoiding Ginny as much as possible. Luckily she had already been at the Gryffindor table when he came in, so the three boys had selected seats further down. Even Ron admitted his sister had been acting rather crazy. She wasn't the only one. Girls he had never met sent him letters, fathers sent betrothal contracts to his vaults (he'd declined them all) and girls whose names he barely knew asked him to go to hogsmeade. They all wanted a piece of the boy-who-lived. And he was sure it didn't help that since he had come of age he had full access to all of his vaults. Just yesterday a girl he only vaguely recognized as being a year or two younger in ravenclaw tried to get him to "help with her homework" in a subject he didn't even take. It was all starting to grate on his nerves.

Harry paused eating his lunch when Hermione dropped into the seat next to him, carrying around a rather large tome, per usual.

"There you are" Ron said between bites "you were almost late"

"Well I was on my way down but then I thought of something I might have missed in my ancient runes homework so I went..." Hermione began.

"To the library" Harry finished for her. "You in the library, shocking really." He said wryly and Ron snickered.

Harry thought Hermione looked like she was wanted to begin a lecture about the importance of homework and the library but he had to admit she had mellowed since their younger days. Instead she scooped some soup into her bowl and muttered "boys" while rolling her eyes. But he could see her fighting not to smirk. He had missed this the last year, the easy banter between the three of them. As he listened to Neville explain some new plant he had read about Harry thought about nice it was just to be at Hogwarts again with his friends. He was even mildly hopeful they could finally get through an entire year normally without anything life-altering happening. Of course, that just wasn't his life.

Harry was brought out of his musings when Headmistress McGonagall stood up.

"Attention students" McGonagall said loudly. Some of the students started to quiet but as it goes with big groups of teenagers muttering could still be heard. She lifted her wand and a sound like an air horn came out effectively quieting the hall. "Classes have been cancelled for the remainder of the day and tomorrow. They will resume on Monday. All students under the age of 14 please leave the hall as this announcement will not effect you." Whispers broke out as the lower classes left the all. Ron looked happy about classes being cancelled and Hermione looked intrigued, but Harry felt mildly sick to his stomach. He just knew nothing good would come of this.

McGonagall started again looking grave. "Quiet please. I have some rather upsetting news that will affect all of you. As most of you know the blood war left our population numbers rather low. Last night in the department of mysteries an extremely ancient artifact activated. Although unspeakables worked throughout the night and this morning to deactivate it they have been unsuccessful" McGonagall paused for a moment while most of the students looked around at each other waiting for how bad this would be. Harry just felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"The artifact is known as the stone of amare et filios" McGonagall said. Harry looked around at this, but all of the students seemed confused. Not even Hermione seemed to know what it was. McGonagall continued grimly "the stone of love and children activates when it feels population levels have reached a dire level—it has only happened once in the United Kingdom's history. Unfortunately once the stone has activated it will hold power over every witch and wizard in the UK. Leaving will not help-now that the stone has been activated everyone must comply or their magic will be stripped from them within two weeks."

This announcement caused widespread panic. Most of the students looked terrified at that thought. Harry knew it; he knew it would be bad. It was impossible for Hogwarts to have a normal year. He couldn't help but notice that McGonagall had yet to actually tell them what was required to avoid this fate.

Once McGonagall had managed to calm group down and silence them once more she began reluctantly again. "The stone will affect everyone between the ages of 14 and 40. In order to counteract the low population the stone forces all those effected to marry within two weeks. Failure to marry within two weeks will result in a loss of magic."

All Harry felt was mind-numbing shock. Married. He was a teenager he couldn't get married. He didn't love anyone. He wasn't ready to be in a relationship. The war had just ended they were all supposed to have time to finally act their age. Vaguely her heard McGonagall going on about how they would help organize the weddings during the next week, how they would help set up matches for anyone who couldn't find one on their own. When he finally came back to himself the great hall was in total chaos. Hermione had stood up next to him but still looked totally shell-shocked. Ron was looking toward the table behind them. He watched as Neville approached Hannah Abbott, safe in the knowledge that he had someone. Those in relationships were running to their partners, he was envious of those who already had partners—who didn't have to pick someone at random. He could see a couple of girls looking in his direction eagerly with hope. Through the panicked students he saw Ginny trying to make her way in his direction.

Stupid stone. Stupid ancient magic. That stupid stone didn't even make any sense. It didn't require producing a child. McGonagall didn't say anything about children. Did whoever originally made it assume everyone would forget to use birth control? It's not like it said have a child or lose your magic. Maybe it was made before birth control existed. Why was he even thinking about that now? He couldn't handle this. He needed to get out of here, to leave the great hall. He pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket and threw it over himself. Even if anyone noticed he had suddenly disappeared he doubted they would find him again; the hall was in complete disarray with students everywhere. He wasn't thinking clearly he just wanted to make his way to the door. Without any rational thought as he passed Hermione he seized her arm and dragged her under the cloak and out the door.

"Harry what are you doing, where are we going" Hermione whispered furiously as he dragged her through the halls. Finally he reached the room of requirement and pulled the cloak off pacing three times and then dragging Hermione into room resembling their common room.

"Marry me" Harry said. He felt mildly surprised to hear himself utter the words so bluntly. But now that he had her here he realized she was his best choice. She wouldn't care about his fame or his money. She had already proven on more then one occasion she would stand by his side.

Hermione looked completely shocked. "WHAT" she said loudly.

"I'm not sure how I can make it any clearer. I want you to marry me"

"But...but you're not in love with me." She sputtered. "and what about Ginny. Or anyone else, really. I mean you could marry anyone"

Harry smiled somewhat sadly at that "that's the point Hermione. I could have anyone but they wouldn't want me, they only want me for my fame or money. You aren't like that.." he paused briefly, trying to think of what to say. A couple of minutes ago he couldn't have imagined ever being in this position but now it seemed vitally important to get Hermione to agree. "I know you aren't in love with me Hermione. And I'm not in love with you. But I do love you.."

"I love you too, you're my best friend" Hermione interjected.

"Exactly. There isn't anyone I'm in love with. And I don't think there is anyone you're particularly interested in right now either." She nodded, agreeing with that statement. "So it makes sense then. We both care about each other. And in time we might learn to love each other. We spend most of our time together anyways; it wouldn't even be that different."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she looked into Harry's eyes and said softly "okay—I'll marry you". Harry smiled, feeling some of the panic he had been feeling fade. "there are going to be so many girls who are angry you didn't pick them. I don't think I want to be there when Ginny finds out."

Harry laughed at this. "I don't care what they think. But maybe we should hide here for the rest of the afternoon." She laughed and agreed.

Later that evening the two walked backed to the common room after having dinner in the kitchens. It had taken Harry a few minutes to convince Hermione to go to the house elves but she didn't really want to deal with the great hall either. Halfway there Harry shyly took her hand in his. He figured if they were going to be a couple it was best to start practicing now. She gave him a small smile in return and they made their way to the portrait of the fat lady.

When they entered the common room it was still full of their fellow Gryffindors; all gossiping loudly about who was marrying whom and who had rejected whom. Harry pulled Hermione over to the corner where he saw Neville and Ron playing chess.

"There you two are, I wondered where you went off to.." Ron said. He looked toward their linked hands. "Asked Hermione then did you?" Ron said. Harry had worried that Ron might be hurt—Hermione was his ex-girlfriend after all, but he had a kind of knowing smirk.

" Errr...yeah I did. Did you ask someone yet?" Harry asked wanting to divert attention away from him.

"Yeah. Since Neville and Hannah started dating Susan Bones has been around a lot. She's nice and pretty cute so I asked her and she said yes" Ron replied happily.

"That's great Ron" Hermione said and Harry nodded smiling. Before he could say something Ginny stormed over and started yelling.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? HOLDING HANDS WITH HER. YOU'RE MINE HARRY, MINE. WE ARE GETTING BACK TOGETHER AND WE ARE GETTING MARRIED." Ginny shouted.

"Harry isn't a possession Ginny. He is free to choose who he wants." Hermione said coldly.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID MUDBLOOD WHORE. HARRY DATED ME HE LOVES ME."

Harry was shocked. The whole common room had turned to watch the scene. Ron was looking at his sister like she had grown a second head. Finally Harry responded angrily "Ginny that's enough. I can't believe you would speak to anyone like that. What do you think the entire war we just fought was about? I told you I didn't' want to get back together months ago. You need to get over it. " Ginny looked furious and stormed away angrily. By the next morning everyone knew about the fight and that Harry was marrying Hermione. They got quite a lot of dirty looks from girls for the entirety of the next week.

So that was how a week and half later Harry had found himself waiting at the altar for Hermione to come in so they could get married. He wasn't in love with her; she wasn't in love with him; but at least they cared for each other. It wasn't the big wedding he had imagined. Considering the school was hosting hundreds of weddings in the same week they were all barely getting a few minutes. Still they were better off then those who were marrying people they only mildly knew just to have someone. They were much better off then the more unfortunate students who hadn't been able to find anyone on their own and were set up with strangers. At the very least Harry knew he would have one of his best friends with him always, and that wasn't so bad.

The door finally opened and Hermione walked into the room. She was wearing a simple white sundress. Her hair knotted back like it had been for the Yule ball. Harry thought she looked very pretty. Luna followed in behind her; she was Hermione's witness. She looked nice in her blue dress. She had married a boy in the year below them earlier that day. He seemed nice.

One of the ministry workers had them repeat after him and just a few minutes later they were married. Harry gave Hermione a chaste kiss and smiled shyly at her. And just like that they were married. It was over quicker then Harry had thought it would be.

 **19 years later**

Harry and Hermione were making their way onto platform 9 3/4 with their three children. Their first was going off to Hogwarts this year. They made their way over to Ron, easily spotting his read hair in the crowd. Ron and Susan where sending their second of four off to Hogwarts that year.

In the end Harry and Hermione were some of the lucky few that were happy. Their marriage had been awkward at first understandably. After consummating their marriage it had been over a year before they made love again. By then they had fallen for each other. Now they had their three children and were happily in love. No outsider would have guessed they hadn't been madly in love when they got married.

Most of the couples subjected to the whims of the stone hadn't been as lucky. Some were like Ron and Susan, comfortable together, caring deeply for each other, but not really in love. Still they had happy lives and children they loved so they didn't really have any complaints. But many relationships had failed. Ending up with bitter partners who couldn't divorce for fear of losing their magic. So they lived apart. Or together but fought often.

Harry smiled wistfully as the train came into view. He couldn't believe it had been almost twenty years since he rode the train himself. Almost twenty years since he had married his best friend.

Fini


End file.
